The American Federation for Children

The American Federation for Children (AFC) is a conservative 501(c)(4) dark money group that promotes the school privatization agenda via the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and other avenues. It is the 501(c)(4) arm of the 501(c)(3) non-profit group the Alliance for School Choice.[1] The group was organized and is funded by the billionaire DeVos family, who are the heirs to the Amway fortune.[2] Former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, who was charged with multiple crimes stemming from abuse of his office, is on staff at AFC as Senior Advisor to its Government Affairs Team.[3]

AFC was founded in 1998 in Milwaukee as the American Education Reform Foundation. It was renamed Advocates for School Choice, Inc. in 2004 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona. It later moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C., and its name was changed to AFC in 2009. [4] American Federation for Children also evolved from the PAC "All Children Matter," another DeVos enterprise which faded from prominence after being fined for violating campaign finance laws in both Ohio and Wisconsin.[2][5]

In the organization's own words, AFC is "a leading national advocacy organization promoting school choice, with a specific focus on advocating for school vouchers and scholarship tax credit programs."[6]

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

An ALEC Ally in Wisconsin

AFC is an ALEC member and is represented by former Rep. Scott Jensen on the ALEC Education Task Force. Jensen has proposed bills to ALEC on behalf of AFC/ASC that were adopted as “model” legislation. For example, in March 2011, Jensen presented to the ALEC Education Task Force the “Education Savings Account Act,” which creates financial incentives for families to take their children out of the public school system and put them in for-profit primary and secondary schools.

AFC was a "Trustee" level sponsor of ALEC’s 2011 Annual Conference – which, according to data from 2010, equated to a $5,000 payment to ALEC.

Model Legislation and Lobbying

AFC works alongside the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to draft and support model legislation promoting "school choice" and tax reform for schools. Regarding education, both ALEC and AFC want to expand funding for charter schools while defunding public schools. You can see the model legislation HERE.

2014 Campaign Spending in Wisconsin

The 2014 Election Impact Report released by AFC denotes Wisconsin as a "major victory," citing victory for AFC-backed candidates in 18 out of 20 races and praising Governor Walker for his "unapologetic leadership for school choice." Furthermore, the group boasts of the $850,000 spent by its independent expenditure committee on behalf of candidates backing school privatization. Notable candidates backed by AFC included Rep. Dave Heaton who unseated school choice critic Mandy Wright, Rep. Todd Novak, Rep. Nancy VanderMeer, Sen. Howard Marklein, Gov. Scott Walker, and Rep. Leon Young who is a Democrat.[10][11]

John Doe II Investigation

The AFC is part of the web of dark money which flowed into the 2011 and 2012 Wisconsin recall elections. AFC received substantial sums both directly and indirectly in 2011 and 2012 from the Wisconsin Club for Growth, whose director Eric O'Keefe received a subpoena in the second John Doe case investigating potential campaign finance violations.[12] In 2011, Wisconsin Club for Growth gave $425,000 to the "Jobs First Coalition," a right-wing spending group with ties to AFC senior advisor Scott Jensen, according to his LinkedIn profile.[13] The Jobs First Coalition then gave $245,000 of this to AFC.[14] The Jobs First Coalition was also an active player in the 2011 recall elections, where it spent $100,000 and sponsored numerous mailings to attack Democratic candidates in contested districts.[15] In 2012, WI Club for Growth gave $250,000 directly to AFC.[16]

2012 Campaign Spending in Wisconsin

AFC reported $345,000 worth of spending to the elections board in Wisconsin for 2012.[17] This directly contradicts the impact brochure released after the elections which boasts spending of almost $2.4 million for the state in 2012, nearly one third of its total national spending of $7.2 million. The difference is likely due to the "issue advocacy" loophole, which requires only limited disclosure for ads that don't explicitly urge viewers to vote for or against a candidate. The clear exploitation of the loophole by AFC sparked controversy and complaints, but was ultimately upheld by Wisconsin's Elections Board.[18]

The impact brochure states that $1.6 million was spent solely on the recall elections. These funds were spent primarily on behalf of Governor Walker but also for additional recall campaigns, notably to defend Sen. Wanggaard who is a member of ALEC.[18]

In the primaries before the 2012 fall election, AFC spent more than $113,000 supporting five Milwaukee Democrats running for State Assembly and Senate who supported expanding school privatization. None of the five AFC-backed candidates won their primary, due in part to their unpopular stances on education.[19]

During the fall election AFC spent $535,000 on 3 Senate and 6 Assembly candidates, according to their impact brochure. $325,000 of this was spent solely in favor of Rick Gudex, a staunchly pro-voucher Republican candidate locked in a competitive Senate race against an anti-voucher Democrat.[18] Only $145,000 of this sum was reported as independent expenditures to Wisconsin's Elections Board.[20]

2011 Wisconsin Recall Election Spending

The AFC invested heavily in the 2011 Wisconsin recall elections to maintain Scott Walker's GOP Senate Majority. In March 2011 the AFC sanctioned automated telephone calls to the districts of eight republican state senators whose recall petitions were being distributed.[21] Some of these recorded calls did not discuss education reform at all, instead arguing that the recall process was inappropriate. One such example was a recorded call sent to voters in Wisconsin's 10th Senate District, which stated that the recall process should take place only in "extreme situations, where an elected official has committed a crime, or engaged in unethical or immoral conduct." The recorded call then urges voters to "let the special interests know it's wrong to recall an elected official just because you disagree with them."[21]

After the petitions against six of these eight senators succeeded, AFC spent $500,000 to defend several of them including Sen. Luther Olsen, Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, and Sen. Alberta Darling.[22] Of this sum, nearly half ($230,000) was spent in favor of Sen. Darling, who as the co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee was a primary architect of the massive $800 million cuts to Wisconsin's public schools and increases in funding of private voucher programs.[23][24] Darling tried to hide her correspondence with AFC by denying an open records request by liberal group One Wisconsin Now, who brought the issue to court and prevailed.[25]

Personnel

Betsy and Dick DeVos

From left to right: Karl Rove, Dick DeVos, and Betsy DeVos

Betsy DeVos was the chairman of AFC's board of directors as of July 2016.[31] She is the former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and older sister to Eric D. Prince, the founder of the notorious mercenary company Blackwater USA.[32] Betsy's husband Dick DeVos is the former president of Amway (a direct sales company) and its parent company Alticor. He ran for governor in 2006, but was defeated.[33] In addition to their organization of the AFC, the DeVos family is a major player in the conservative donor class, heavily funding conservative think tanks, Republican candidates, right-wing evangelical organizations, and school-privatization advocacy groups.[34]

Scott Jensen

Convicted former Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen

Former State Representative Scott Jensen was convicted of three felonies for misuse of his office for political purposes and banned from the state Capitol for five years (though the charges were later reversed and dropped as part of a plea agreement).[35] Jensen has remained involved in state politics by advising and lobbying on behalf of the pro-business Jobs First Coalition and the AFC. Jensen is one of AFC’s registered lobbyists in Wisconsin.[36]